{"id":18067,"date":"2025-02-25T00:13:30","date_gmt":"2025-02-25T00:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/25\/collapses-menacing-calls-reptilian-kitten-eater-a-look-at-past-ontario-elections\/"},"modified":"2025-02-25T00:13:30","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T00:13:30","slug":"collapses-menacing-calls-reptilian-kitten-eater-a-look-at-past-ontario-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/25\/collapses-menacing-calls-reptilian-kitten-eater-a-look-at-past-ontario-elections\/","title":{"rendered":"Collapses, menacing calls, \u2018reptilian kitten-eater\u2019: A look at past Ontario elections"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

The Progressive Conservatives are looking to win a third consecutive majority government for the first time in more than 50 years when Ontario votes on Thursday.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

PC leader Doug Ford said he called the snap election because he needs a renewed mandate to deal with U.S. trade uncertainty despite already holding a decisive majority.<\/p>\n

His main rivals \u2014 the NDP\u2019s Marit Stiles, Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie and Mike Schreiner of the Green Party \u2014 have suggested the unusual winter campaign is Ford\u2019s gambit to pre-empt a federal election and any revelations from an RCMP investigation into his government\u2019s now-reversed decision to open up parts of the protected Greenbelt for housing development.<\/p>\n

The last time a party pulled off three or more consecutive majorities in Ontario was a string of eight mandates the PCs won between 1945 and 1971.<\/p>\n

Here is a brief history of the past 25 years of Ontario votes, based on reporting by The Canadian Press.<\/p>\n

\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t2022: Progressive Conservative majority\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Ford\u2019s Progressive Conservatives strengthened their majority to 83 seats in a victory that toppled both the NDP and Liberal leaders.<\/p>\n

While Ford\u2019s \u201cget it done\u201d pitch of new highways and hospitals won the day, the election produced Ontario\u2019s worst-ever turnout as voters appeared unenthusiastic about their alternatives and as the province emerged from the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

Liberal Leader Steven Del Duca and NDP Leader Andrea Horwath stepped down on election night.<\/p>\n

The Liberals edged out the NDP in the popular vote but captured only eight seats compared to the NDP\u2019s 31.<\/p>\n

Turnout: 44 per cent<\/p>\n

\n

\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t2018: Progressive Conservative majority\t\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Doug Ford ascended to the premier\u2019s office just three months after capturing the PC leadership in a campaign marked by his populist promises to introduce Buck-a-Beer \u2014 or set the price floor for beer at $1 \u2014 and cut gas prices by 10 cents a litre.<\/p>\n

\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The Liberals imploded and leader Kathleen Wynne resigned after the party captured just seven seats, losing its official status.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"For\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n

Get breaking National news<\/h3>\n

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Horwath\u2019s NDP formed the Official Opposition and earned their best result, 40 seats, since they formed government under Bob Rae in the early \u201990s.<\/p>\n

Green Leader Mike Schreiner won the party\u2019s first seat in the legislature.<\/p>\n

Turnout: 57 per cent<\/p>\n

Wynne won a surprise majority government, boosting the Liberal seat count to 58, in a campaign she spent staving off accusations of government mismanagement.<\/p>\n

Wynne had become party leader 16 months earlier after a gas plant scandal \u2014 in which the Liberal government cancelled two power plants at a reported cost of $1.1 billion \u2014 swept Dalton McGuinty out of office.<\/p>\n

\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

PC Leader Tim Hudak resigned following a campaign in which he pledged to cut 100,000 public sector jobs and create one million jobs in eight years, the latter promise panned by economists as based on faulty math.<\/p>\n

Horwath and the NDP, who triggered the election when they refused to support a minority Liberal budget, tilted to the political right while promising to lower hydro rates and auto-insurance bills.<\/p>\n

Turnout: 51 per cent<\/p>\n

Ontario elected its first minority government in 26 years and Dalton McGuinty became the first three-term Liberal premier in over a century.<\/p>\n

The campaign began with the PCs led by Hudak as the frontrunner, but the Liberals weathered backlash over broken promises and higher taxes to secure 53 seats, just one shy of a majority, while edging out the Tories for the popular vote.<\/p>\n

\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The PCs and NDP, under new leader Horwath, both upped their seat count. Mike Schreiner contested his first general election as Green leader.<\/p>\n

Turnout: 48 per cent<\/p>\n